Latest news with #VictorBecerra
Dubai Eye
30-04-2025
- Business
- Dubai Eye
Spain, Portugal switch back on and search for answers after major blackout
Spain and Portugal switched their power back on after the worst blackout in their history, though authorities offered little explanation for what had caused it or how they would prevent it from happening again. Traffic lights were back on, train and metro services slowly returned and schools reopened. Commuters battled with delays to get back to work after an outage that had left people stranded in lifts and cut off from phone contact with their families. The sudden outage had seen the equivalent of 60 per cent of demand in Spain drop in five seconds around midday on Monday. Spanish Grid operator REE on Tuesday ruled out a cyber attack as the cause. It said it had identified two incidents of power generation loss, probably from solar plants, in Spain's southwest that caused instability in the electric system and led to a breakdown of its interconnection with France. But it was still too early to explain why that had happened, REE's system operations chief Eduardo Prieto told a press conference. "Until we receive the data on the generation aspects we cannot draw conclusions," he said. REE planned to invest in more interconnections with France to make the system more stable, he added. Spain is one of Europe's biggest producers of renewable energy, and the blackout sparked debate about whether the volatility of supply from solar or wind made its power systems more vulnerable. Investment bank RBC said the economic cost of the blackout could range between 2.25 billion euros and 4.5 billion euros, blaming the Spanish government for being too complacent about infrastructure in a system dependent on solar power with little battery storage. STATE OF EMERGENCY Madrid's authorities put on free buses to get people to work on Tuesday and the metro and some trains started to operate, although with delays. A state of emergency was declared across many Spanish regions on Monday, with the deployment of 30,000 police. In Atocha station in Madrid, police and Red Cross workers handed out blankets and bottles of water. Cafes and restaurants counted the cost of lost produce after fridges and freezers were switched off for more than eight hours. In Portugal, the government said hospitals were back up and running, airports were operational albeit with delays in Lisbon, while the capital's metro was restarting operations and trains were running. Energy systems can be vulnerable when combining intermittent renewable power such as wind and solar with traditional sources such as gas and nuclear plants, said Victor Becerra, a professor of power systems engineering at the University of Portsmouth. "Whatever the cause, a major failure in one area can place sudden pressure on neighbouring systems, causing protective shutdowns to prevent further damage," Becerra said. More than 75 per cent of the energy Spain was using at the time of the outage came from renewable sources, according to Red Electrica data.
AsiaOne
29-04-2025
- Business
- AsiaOne
What could be behind the Iberian power outage?, World News
LONDON — The hunt has begun for the cause of a massive blackout across Spain, Portugal and parts of France that halted trains, bank machines and traffic lights, in one of Europe's biggest ever power system collapses. Cyberattack? Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has said there was no indication of a cyberattack, but both countries are still looking at all hypotheses. Explanations so far Spanish grid operator Red Electrica, in a statement on Monday night (April 28), pointed to a "strong oscillation in the power flow, which triggered "a very significant loss of generation." This loss of generation went beyond what the electrical systems are designed to handle and the Spanish grid was disconnected from the European system. The electrical system then collapsed, leading to voltage losses in the supply points of both the Spanish and Portuguese peninsular electrical systems, Red Electrica said. What causes power outages? The most common cause of an unplanned power cut which disables electricity on a large scale is extreme weather such as storms, lightning strikes or high winds. They can also happen when there are faults at power stations, power distribution lines, substations or other parts of the electricity transmission system or grid. Most power cuts typically last between a few minutes to several hours. What is the Iberian power mix? Spain is one of Europe's biggest producers of renewable energy and Monday's shutdown has already sparked debate about whether the volatility of supply from solar or wind made its power systems more vulnerable to such an outage. Red Electrica data shows solar photovolatic (PV) energy was providing almost 59 per cent of Spain's electricity at the time of the blackout, while wind power was providing nearly 12 per cent, nuclear almost 11 per cent and combined cycle gas plants five per cent. Red Electrica data also shows that within just five minutes on Monday, between 1230 and 1235 local time (6.30pm and 6.35pm in Singapore time), solar PV generation dropped from more than 18 GW to just 8 GW. What factors could be involved? A source with direct knowledge of the sector said that at the time of the outage the Spanish grid was running with very little "inertia", which is the energy moving in a large rotating mass like a generator or in some industrial motors. Inertia helps to stabilise the grid by slowing down the rate of frequency change when there's a sudden drop or rise in demand or generation. "In those conditions (when there is little inertia) if there's a drop in production for whatever reason, the grid loses (more) inertia and everything fails. And in a blackout, you need to rebuild inertia before bringing things back online, which takes a few hours," the source said, requesting anonymity. Victor Becerra, professor of power systems engineering, at the UK's University of Portsmouth, said the Iberian outage showed the complexity of managing modern energy systems particularly as they integrate increasing levels of intermittent renewable energy, such as wind and solar. [[nid:717456]]
Hindustan Times
29-04-2025
- Climate
- Hindustan Times
Explainer: What could be behind the Iberian power outage in Spain, France?
The hunt has begun for the cause of a massive blackout across Spain, Portugal and parts of France that halted trains, bank machines and traffic lights, in one of Europe's biggest ever power system collapses. Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has said there was no indication of a cyberattack, but both countries are still looking at all hypotheses. Spanish grid operator Red Electrica, in a statement on Monday night, pointed to a "strong oscillation in the power flow, which triggered "a very significant loss of generation." This loss of generation went beyond what the electrical systems are designed to handle and the Spanish grid was disconnected from the European system. The electrical system then collapsed, leading to voltage losses in the supply points of both the Spanish and Portuguese peninsular electrical systems, Red Electrica said. The most common cause of an unplanned power cut which disables electricity on a large scale is extreme weather such as storms, lightning strikes or high winds. They can also happen when there are faults at power stations, power distribution lines, substations or other parts of the electricity transmission system or grid. Most power cuts typically last between a few minutes to several hours. Spain is one of Europe's biggest producers of renewable energy and Monday's shutdown has already sparked debate about whether the volatility of supply from solar or wind made its power systems more vulnerable to such an outage. Red Electrica data shows solar photovolatic (PV) energy was providing almost 59% of Spain's electricity at the time of the blackout, while wind power was providing nearly 12%, nuclear almost 11% and combined cycle gas plants 5%. Red Electrica data also shows that within just five minutes on Monday, between 1230 and 1235 local time (1030-1035 GMT), solar PV generation dropped from more than 18 GW to just 8 GW. A source with direct knowledge of the sector said that at the time of the outage the Spanish grid was running with very little "inertia", which is the energy moving in a large rotating mass like a generator or in some industrial motors. Inertia helps to stabilize the grid by slowing down the rate of frequency change when there's a sudden drop or rise in demand or generation. "In those conditions (when there is little inertia) if there's a drop in production for whatever reason, the grid loses (more) inertia and everything fails. And in a blackout, you need to rebuild inertia before bringing things back online, which takes a few hours," the source said, requesting anonymity. Victor Becerra, professor of power systems engineering, at the UK's University of Portsmouth, said the Iberian outage showed the complexity of managing modern energy systems particularly as they integrate increasing levels of intermittent renewable energy, such as wind and solar.
Al Etihad
29-04-2025
- Business
- Al Etihad
Iberian power outage: What could be behind the blackout in Europe?
29 Apr 2025 15:02 LONDON (REUTERS)The hunt has begun for the cause of a massive blackout across Spain, Portugal and parts of France that halted trains, bank machines and traffic lights, in one of Europe's biggest ever power system collapses. CYBER ATTACK? Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has said there was no indication of a cyberattack, but both countries are still looking at all hypotheses. EXPLANATIONS SO FAR Spanish grid operator Red Electrica, in a statement on Monday night, pointed to a "strong oscillation in the power flow, which triggered "a very significant loss of generation."This loss of generation went beyond what the electrical systems are designed to handle and the Spanish grid was disconnected from the European electrical system then collapsed, leading to voltage losses in the supply points of both the Spanish and Portuguese peninsular electrical systems, Red Electrica said. WHAT CAUSES POWER OUTAGES? The most common cause of an unplanned power cut which disables electricity on a large scale is extreme weather such as storms, lightning strikes or high can also happen when there are faults at power stations, power distribution lines, substations or other parts of the electricity transmission system or power cuts typically last between a few minutes to several hours. WHAT IS THE IBERIAN POWER MIX? Spain is one of Europe's biggest producers of renewable energy and Monday's shutdown has already sparked debate about whether the volatility of supply from solar or wind made its power systems more vulnerable to such an Electrica data shows solar photovolatic (PV) energy was providing almost 59% of Spain's electricity at the time of the blackout, while wind power was providing nearly 12%, nuclear almost 11% and combined cycle gas plants 5%.Red Electrica data also shows that within just five minutes on Monday, between 1230 and 1235 local time (1030-1035 GMT), solar PV generation dropped from more than 18 GW to just 8 GW. WHAT FACTORS COULD BE INVOLVED? A source with direct knowledge of the sector said that at the time of the outage the Spanish grid was running with very little "inertia", which is the energy moving in a large rotating mass like a generator or in some industrial helps to stabilize the grid by slowing down the rate of frequency change when there's a sudden drop or rise in demand or generation."In those conditions (when there is little inertia) if there's a drop in production for whatever reason, the grid loses (more) inertia and everything fails. And in a blackout, you need to rebuild inertia before bringing things back online, which takes a few hours," the source said, requesting anonymity. Victor Becerra, professor of power systems engineering, at the UK's University of Portsmouth, said the Iberian outage showed the complexity of managing modern energy systems particularly as they integrate increasing levels of intermittent renewable energy, such as wind and solar.
Reuters
29-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Explainer: What could be behind the Iberian power outage?
LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) - The hunt has begun for the cause of a massive blackout across Spain, Portugal and parts of France that halted trains, bank machines and traffic lights, in one of Europe's biggest ever power system collapses. CYBER ATTACK? Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has said there was no indication of a cyberattack, but both countries are still looking at all hypotheses. The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here. EXPLANATIONS SO FAR Spanish grid operator Red Electrica ( opens new tab, in a statement on Monday night, pointed to a "strong oscillation in the power flow, which triggered "a very significant loss of generation." This loss of generation went beyond what the electrical systems are designed to handle and the Spanish grid was disconnected from the European system. The electrical system then collapsed, leading to voltage losses in the supply points of both the Spanish and Portuguese peninsular electrical systems, Red Electrica said. WHAT CAUSES POWER OUTAGES? The most common cause of an unplanned power cut which disables electricity on a large scale is extreme weather such as storms, lightning strikes or high winds. They can also happen when there are faults at power stations, power distribution lines, substations or other parts of the electricity transmission system or grid. Most power cuts typically last between a few minutes to several hours. WHAT IS THE IBERIAN POWER MIX? Spain is one of Europe's biggest producers of renewable energy and Monday's shutdown has already sparked debate about whether the volatility of supply from solar or wind made its power systems more vulnerable to such an outage. Red Electrica data shows solar photovolatic (PV) energy was providing almost 59% of Spain's electricity at the time of the blackout, while wind power was providing nearly 12%, nuclear almost 11% and combined cycle gas plants 5%. Red Electrica data also shows that within just five minutes on Monday, between 1230 and 1235 local time (1030-1035 GMT), solar PV generation dropped from more than 18 GW to just 8 GW. WHAT FACTORS COULD BE INVOLVED? A source with direct knowledge of the sector said that at the time of the outage the Spanish grid was running with very little "inertia", which is the energy moving in a large rotating mass like a generator or in some industrial motors. Inertia helps to stabilize the grid by slowing down the rate of frequency change when there's a sudden drop or rise in demand or generation. "In those conditions (when there is little inertia) if there's a drop in production for whatever reason, the grid loses (more) inertia and everything fails. And in a blackout, you need to rebuild inertia before bringing things back online, which takes a few hours," the source said, requesting anonymity. Victor Becerra, professor of power systems engineering, at the UK's University of Portsmouth, said the Iberian outage showed the complexity of managing modern energy systems particularly as they integrate increasing levels of intermittent renewable energy, such as wind and solar.
